S1 Pro Camera: First Impressions

The S1 Pro is a new higher grade version of the S1 camera. Similar to the Z4XL, the S1 Pro features 4x micro four thirds sensors. On this particular model, they are Sony sensors which have a larger square pixel size over the Panasonic sensors.

The camera also features a smaller parallax and can be combined with optical flow software to enable high quality optically near perfect image stitching. Optical flow algorithms measure pixel movement around several frames for every frame rendered, so while quite accurate, do significantly add render time in the post workflow.

In this Mountain Dew advert, we see excellent movement with an RC VR vehicle and also attachment to a helmet during the skydive segment. The transition between the two is very seamless. We can see good minimum distance in the bar as they production crew took advantage of the smaller parallax. The dynamic range of the cameras is quite extensive also. A useful side-note is that the lenses employed on the S1 Pro feature aperture control, making them the first lenses for professional VR 360 video filmmaking in our opinion.